Kenya: The Impetuous Adventure

It’s my third day in Kenya and it still feels surreal. It’s still difficult to believe that I purchased this ticket one week before boarding on the plane. I remember seeing the deal at 3 AM on sunday morning and debating whether I should take it or continue on with the dream I’ve always had of backpacking the east coast of Africa from Egypt to Mozambique. I sat there, in bed, in front of the computer for three hours playing with the website and staring at my debit card. “The hell with it! Let’s do it! It’s been on your to-do list since last year!” I told myself. I grabbed my card and reserved the ticket. “In any case, I have 24 hours to cancel the reservation.” I told myself as I tried to resonate this impromptu act. The excitement would not let me sleep longer. I woke up by 9 AM after 3 hours of sleep, still trying to decide whether I wanted to go to Kenya, and most importantly if I wanted to do it alone.Now, here I am laying awake at 2:40 AM, in Kenya, on a bus from Nairobi to Mombasa, thinking about what I’ve done. The guilt won’t leave me alone as my heart palpitates. “I love that you’re curious. But why did you have to be this curious? I know you can’t help it. I know you can’t! The world is too big for you to not crave the experience. But now you can label yourself as “cheater”! Yes, you’re a cheater!” These are the thoughts ravaging my mind at the wee hours of the morning.

During the week that I prepared my trip to Kenya, Senegal was heavy on my mind. The idea that I was heading to another black African country made me feel like a cheater. It’s like I was in a loving relationship with Senegal, a relationship where we understand each other well. But, here I was, exploring Senegal’s brothers, while afraid that they, too, will steal my heart.

 

I remember as I stepped out of the plane at the Jomo Kenyatta airport, the air hit my nose and my first thoughts were “yes! The same African air! It’s starting!” And then I smiled all the way from the plane to the bus that took me inside the airport. It was my first time on the East African coast and I was excited. I thought about everything I have ever read and heard about Kenya and decided I would only embrace the good, especially since the country has been on my “to travel” list for quite a while. After an hour through customs, I met my new friends who would be hosting me and we left the airport. It was already past 10 PM and after two days of travel, I wanted real food and most importantly, I wanted non-westernized food. So, we went on a hunt for food. (For the small-minded: no, we did not take our spears and go hunting for bush meat!) Considering it was Monday night, most restaurants were already closed and it took about an hour and a half until we found a place that would accommodate our needs. And thus, I had my first Kenyan dinner around 1 AM. It consisted of ugali, goat meat and barbecued beef. After eating, we went to a Kenyan club where the culture shock hit me immediately. It was “reggae night”, a term to which I am very accustomed and from my observations, Kenyans take that term seriously.

Being in Kenya provoked a constant internal battle to not compare the country to Senegal or Haiti in order for me to enjoy the experience. But truth is, even though I had a couple of fun nights partying ( including a man from the Luo tribe asking my hand in marriage and telling me I’m worth a lot of cows), I am not fond of Kenya. There was something that did not click with me and I did not fall in love with the country as I was told to expect. (No offense to my Kenyan friends.) I started writing this post when I was in Kenya but decided to not finish it. I had to analyze why the country did not appeal to me as I thought it would. I went to Kenya with a lot of expectations after conversing with a lot of Kenya lovers who assured me I was going to have the greatest time of my life. But Kenya disappointed me and here are some of the main reasons why:

1) There was a lack of cultural connection for me as a person of Haitian origins.

2) I got attacked by a mob of baboons at the Nairobi National Park the day before my departure and no one, not even the officials working at the park bothered to check on me while they heard me screaming for help, even when they were notified that someone was screaming.

3) My biggest disappointment of them all was seeing the loss of traditional values and the embracement of western values. For example, a Kenyan in traditional clothing was a rare sight. From my observations, dressing up in Kenya meant wearing your suit or western-style clothing (whereas in Senegal dressing up meant wearing your nicest African print “boubou” or “taille-basse” that was sewn by a local tailor.)

Though I was disappointed, I still believe everyone should give Kenya a chance. There are plenty of people who go to Kenya and enjoy the country. I just wasn’t one of them. And this made me realize that people are in search of different things when they travel ; whether it’s a luxurious vacation by the beach, or an adventurous hike. But for me, I realized, it’s all about the connections to the cultures and people.